By Alicia Lee | Community Engagement Officer
The Movement Control Order (MCO) imposed in Malaysia had created worries among survivors of domestic violence; many feared that they would not be able to have access to justice due to the strict restrictions. The case study below depicts a survivor’s journey to obtaining a protection order during the MCO period with assistance from Women's Aid Organisation.
Case Study: IPO Delivered during MCO
Trina and her husband had been married for 7 years. They are both foreign nationals living in Malaysia under the Malaysia My Second Home program (MM2H) since 2018. They have 2 children, Jessica (5) and Annie (3). Jessica and Annie also have Hong Kong citizenship.
Trina’s husband was physically and verbally abusive towards her. He would throw household objects and insult Trina for practicing her religion. He also locked her out of the house on several occasions. Trina would have to wait outside until he let her in. He would often tell her that she could not get help in Malaysia as it is not a crime for men to hit their wives. He told her that she is his possession, and threatened to beat her so severely that she would have to be admitted to the hospital.
He also abused Annie. Once, when Annie was crying, he hit her repeatedly with an electronics cable, leaving scars. Trina saved pictures of the abuse.
Fearing for her life, Trina got her own apartment and moved out together with her two daughters. She and her daughters all experience nightmares from the abuse.
Trina saw a women’s doctor for a healthcare check-up, and confided some of her marriage issues with the doctor. The doctor gave her WAO’s number. Trina met with a WAO social worker who advised her that her husband was lying to her; that domestic violence is a crime in Malaysia and he can face charges for the abuse towards them. She is also eligible for protections under the Domestic Violence Act (DVA), such as protection orders. Even if he tried to get the embassies involved, he would still have to follow Malaysian law.
Trina was still considering her options when the Movement Control Order (MCO) was imposed in Malaysia. Although Trina was not living together with her husband and he did not have her location, he still sent her abusive text messages. In some of the text messages, her husband threatened to hurt her for leaving him.
At WAO’s advice, Trina lodged a police report. The Investigating Officer (IO) called Trina in for a statement the following day. She was immediately given a referral letter for an Interim Protection Order (IPO). Trina brought the referral letter the nearest welfare department office. Trina also brought Annie for a medical check-up as part of the investigation process.
11 days after lodging the police report, Trina, Jessie, and Annie were all granted an IPO.
Trina and her children are receiving counselling to deal with their trauma from the abuse, while they await the outcome of the criminal case against the perpetrator. However, Trina said she also feels better knowing that there are legal measures to protect her and her children.
Notes
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
